LSAT Question Explanation
PT 105, Section 4, Question 24
PrinciplesArgument structure
If an external force helps give a community political self-determination, then that political community will probably not be truly free.
The virtues necessary for maintaining freedom are likely to arise when people struggle by their own efforts to achieve freedom.
Explanation
The argument is implying that you need some virtues to gain true freedom. And if some outside force helps you win freedom, you're less likely to have those necessary virtues.
I'm looking for an answer choice here that treats the virtues as necessary for succeeding in being truly free.
Answer choices
This doesn't align with the conclusion, which says that groups likely won't be truly free if an outside force helps them gain self-determination.
We don't know anything about what the virtues are or what order they come in.
This is what we're looking for. The argument says that without the virtues, you likely won't have or maintain true freedom.
We don't know if political self-determination is one of the virtues necessary for freedom. All we know about the virtues is that they're likely to arise during the struggle of a group to become free.
"Should" is a word that should set of alarm bells and red flags when you're taking the LSAT. The author here never claims what any group should or should not do. Common trap answer pattern.